“I did not. We were in a restaurant.”
Lexi laughed. “Wait. Is that so wrong? You should try it sometime.”
Penny rolled her eyes. That’s exactly what Lexi had done on her first non-date with Grant. She’d never known her friend had it in her. Amanda, definitely. But never Lexi. And after everything Lexi had been through, with her husband leaving her to raise their infant daughter alone five years ago, Penny was grateful that Grant had stumbled into her friend’s life.
Hell, she wanted that. The love, and the ease of being with someone she could count on—could trust. But could she have that with Ethan? Was he ready? Was she?
Her thoughts instantly went back to that dinner. That amazing kiss that was rudely interrupted by his ex. He swore he was over her, but the following night he’d played horribly. She was still trying to figure out the game, but his distraction on the ice had been clear, even to her.
She wanted to trust him. She just wasn’t sure she could trust herself.
Ethan refused to acknowledge the spark that rolled through him as he walked down the hall to Penny’s office. He hadn’t seen her in a week, since that kiss. Christmas and mismatched schedules had halted any follow up kisses. She’d hinted about not having plans tonight, and he didn’t have a game, so here he was, trying to avoid bumping into his uncle and the questions that would follow.
He rapped sharply on her door and ducked his head in when she called out to enter.
“I’m here for that nooner you mentioned last week,” he said. He shot her a grin and walked into her office, shutting the door behind him.
Her cheeks flushed a brilliant red. “Seriously, you can’t say shit like that out loud. People—your uncle—could’ve heard you.”
“I didn’t shout it. I promise no one heard anything. The hallway was blissfully empty.”
“That’s because it’s almost six. A little late for a nooner.”
He loved how flushed her cheeks were as she whispered that last word.
“But now you’re thinking about one,” he said.
“I am not, and I don’t recall mentioning a nooner anyway.”
“Are you accusing me of making that up?” he said, his grin widening as she rolled her eyes and tucked a blonde curl behind her delectable ear. He planned to taste that skin in the very near future.
“Ethan, what are you doing here? What if someone saw you? Like Robert?”
He caught the panic in her voice and felt like an ass. He’d convinced her that not telling his uncle right now would be okay, and then he’d busted into her office after hours.
“I’m sorry, Penny. I know that you are taking a risk, but I did peek down the hallway before heading toward your office, and no one was coming. Plus, I’m a client, so this could totally be work related.”
“That is a weak excuse, at best,” she said. “So, what are you doing here?”
“You mentioned that you didn’t have plans tonight, so I’m here to convince you that you should have dinner and drinks with me instead of washing your hair.”
She laughed. “Washing my hair? Really? You’ve turned me into a cliché.”
“I mean, if you need to wash your hair, I’m happy to help. You know, to conserve water,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows at her, loving her bold laugh. He’d make it his goal to only make her laugh that way from now on.
“You have a one-track mind,” she said as she ran her fingers over her keyboard and stacked the paperwork on her desk. Clear signs that it wouldn’t take much to convince her to join him tonight.
“And you’ve missed it,” he shot back with a grin. “Now pack up your stuff. I’m busting you out of here. You’re probably starving.”
“I’m fine,” she said, but he heard the hesitation in her voice, so he pressed on, propping his ass onto the edge of her desk.
“Come on. Have dinner with me.” He reached out, trailing his finger down her soft cheek, relishing in the hitch in her breath and the shudder that rolled through her.
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“You know you want to, and I bet you’re hungry,” he said.
She nodded, her eyes darkening, and he knew she was interested in more than just food. “Maybe,” she said.
“Me too,” he whispered. He lowered his head, pressing his lips tentatively to hers. At her sharp breath and moan, he cupped her cheek and deepened the kiss. His belly churned with need, and he itched to spread her out on the desk and do what he’d wanted to do since he’d seen her last month.
He ended the kiss and reached down, pulling her from her chair and turning to place her on the edge of her desk.
“Ethan,” she gasped, her hands immediately linking behind his neck, a shiver rolling through him as her nails brushed against his skin.
“I was getting a crick in my neck,” he said by way of explanation. sealing their lips again, and devouring her mouth. She groaned against him, her fingers curling into his hair, scraping against his scalp. He tilted his head for the perfect angle, and she opened her mouth to his questing tongue. She tasted just as amazing as he’d remembered.
He swallowed her moan as their tongues tangled, and she pressed flush against his chest. He broke away and trailed kisses down her throat before finding that spot behind her ear that drove her insane. Her hands tightened in his hair as he nibbled along her collarbone, bathing her skin in kisses, thrilling at every gasp, every indrawn breath, and every soft moan of his name.
“Ethan, we should stop,” she panted as he continued his torment, his body tight with need. His thigh pressed between her legs, heat radiating off her body. How much damage would they do if he just swept the contents of her desk to the floor? The computer could stay. The rest was in the way.
“You started it,” he mumbled against her throat.
“No I did not,” she pushed back from him in outrage.
He chuckled, pressing his lips to her throat. “Okay, maybe not, but I can’t resist you. Now, shut everything down so we can grab dinner before I send everything on your desk to the floor and kiss you how I really want to.”
She scrambled away from him, saving a file on her computer and tucking file folders into her desk drawer.
“I’m not sure if you really want to get out of here, or if you’re worried I’ll mess up your organized system by knocking everything to the floor.” He shook his head at her glare, but she didn’t disagree with him.
“You are not ravishing me on my desk. My files are perfectly organized and stacked for review. And someone could walk in.”
“I’m not sure what concerns you the most, but I locked the door,” he said, leaning down to nibble on her lips.
She broke the kiss, glancing at the door.
“You don’t believe me? I have no desire for anyone to interrupt us. It’s another reason why I showed up after five on a Friday. Most people have already bailed for happy hours and to start their weekends.”
“That’s very considerate of you,” she said, her desk finally clear of paperwork.
“Isn’t it? So how about I ravish you on the desk now,” he said, grinning and moving toward her. She held him off with a hand.
“Nope. I’m starved—for food. Let’s go.”
“You are a tease,” he said, helping her into her coat, using that as an excuse to brush his fingers under her collar. He felt the shudder rock through her. He resisted the urge to pull her against his body.
She spun in his arms and pressed a hard kiss to his lips, stealing his breath. “So are you,” she said as she flooded her office in darkness and opened the door.
“Oh, Penny. I didn’t realize you were still here,” a woman said, heading down the hall toward them.
Ethan felt Penny stiffen, and then she stepped away from him with a muttered dammit.
“Hi, Jessica. I thought you’d headed out with everyone for drinks.”
“Not yet. Just finishing up one last account, and then I’m leaving.” Jessica focused on him. “You look
familiar. Have we met?”
“I don’t believe so.” He held out his hand. “Ethan, nice to meet you.”
“Ethan. Oh right, you’re Mr. Knight’s nephew. I’ve seen you in the office.”
“Yes. Robert assigned Ethan’s account to me, so we were just finishing up some paperwork,” Penny chimed in a little too brightly. Ethan caught the slow smile on Jessica’s face.
“Well, have a good weekend. Nice to officially meet you, Ethan,” Jessica said.
“Shit. This is what I didn’t want,” Penny bit out after Jessica was out of sight.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, keeping pace with her as she briskly walked down the hall toward the lobby. He grabbed her hand as soon as the building door shut behind them.
“She’s the biggest gossip in the office, and she just caught you, the boss’s nephew, walking out of my office after hours.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m your client, so going over paperwork at six isn’t a huge deal,” he said.
“Don’t say that you’re a client. That makes it even worse.”
“Even if we haven’t actually gone over anything yet because the new year just started? Don’t stress. And who cares what she thinks?”
“I do,” she muttered.
“Well, stop.” He linked his hand with hers, pulling her outside into the crisp night air. It stole his breath for a moment. “If there’s gossip, don’t listen to it. I know you’re concerned about how this looks, you working for my uncle and working on my account, but we aren’t doing anything wrong. Let’s just wait and see if anyone says anything, okay?” He tried to reassure her, tugging her close and brushing a kiss across her brow when they were out of sight of the office. He hoped she’d come to terms with what they were. It was only a matter of time before everything came out. Hopefully not the part about Italy, but everything always came out eventually. They’d done nothing wrong, and he would prove that to her, no matter what happened.
“Now, no more freaking out. I’m starving.”
She laughed when his stomach rumbled. “Far be it for me to let you starve.”
He tucked her into his side as they walked down the street, attempting to shield her from the bracing wind and anything else she wanted to be protected from. He was determined to make this work.
Chapter 11
Penny pulled her hand from Ethan’s, grabbing the martini the waitress had dropped off and took a healthy sip. Anything to make him stop touching her. He was driving her crazy and doing it on purpose. She hadn’t been able to stop herself from agreeing to dinner when he’d ambushed her in her office a few hours ago.
This was her last drink and then she was going home. Maybe.
“So where are we going on our next date?” he asked.
“This isn’t a date,” she replied.
“It’s Friday night, and we are out having drinks, just the two of us. And we had nachos. And burgers. That’s an appetizer and an entrée. This is a date.” He flashed her that crooked smile that made her want to agree to anything he said.
“This is friends getting a bite to eat.”
His thumb traced over her palm and desire shot down to her toes. The stress of the week, of running into the office gossip after he’d kissed the hell out of her in her office, vanished as she took another sip of her martini and tried to blame the warmth in her belly on the booze.
“Whatever. This is a date.”
She laughed. “So, if I were to agree to an actual date, what would you suggest?”
He grinned, probably thinking he had her. Hell. He did. “Dinner and then skeeball?”
“Skeeball?”
“Apparently, there’s a bar crawl and a bunch of bars have skeeball machines and hold tournaments. Competition and booze. Could be fun,” he said.
She laughed. “I secretly love arcade games. Haven’t played in years, but I excelled at skeeball.”
He chuckled. “See, I knew it was the perfect date idea.”
“Even if I beat you?”
“If it gets you to agree to a date, then I’m in. But, I’m very coordinated and excel at all forms of competition, so you can try…” he trailed off, his eyes twinkling under the low light. Twinkling? Seriously?
“Cocky bastard,” she said, shaking her head. She’d show him. “And I could totally win. I’m coordinated, too.”
“Really? I think your knee disagrees. How’s it doing, by the way?”
“I almost have my full range of motion back. I did have a little setback a few months ago when I slipped in the shower. Took the curtain right down with me, so at least the floor didn’t get wet.” She shook her head, cringing.
“Oh, man. And yes, it’s a good thing you managed to keep the floor dry in your fall.” He shook his head. “You are definitely not coordinated. Penny, what are we going to do with you?”
She refused to think about how loaded that question was as he smiled at her, desire-filled promises in his eyes that she wanted to explore.
“Don’t make fun of me. I can’t help being clumsy. You know, I never crawled as a baby. They say that babies who never crawl and just go straight to walking end up being clumsy adults. So it’s not my fault,” she huffed.
He linked his hand with hers. “I’m just teasing you. I’m glad the knee is healing. Maybe we should go to a museum instead. Walk slow, take in the exhibits. Just like in Italy. And then we can go to this gelateria up in North Beach that you’ll love. I’ve heard great things about their stracciatella. Wasn’t that your favorite?”
Dammit. He was getting her with the memories, and now the gelato.
“Maybe.” She’d give in to him. She was tired of being stronger because of work and whatever reasoning she could drum up to not see him.
“Maybe isn’t no,” he said.
“Ethan, we probably shouldn’t.” But she wanted to. Oh, how she wanted to.
“We can go as friends,” he said.
“Can we?” She tilted her head in question.
He chuckled. “Okay. Maybe not, but I’m trying here.”
“I know. I’m sorry for being difficult.”
“You’re worth it,” he murmured as he squeezed her hand. She stopped breathing. His touch. Those words. They wreaked havoc on her self-control, as did the kisses she couldn’t resist.
She knocked back the rest of her martini to keep from leaning across the table and kissing her self-control goodbye—and him. “I really should get going.” She felt that warm buzzy feeling run through her body and knew that chugging that last drink hadn’t been a good idea.
“Please don’t rush off,” he said as he took another long drink of his beer. She watched his throat muscles move as he swallowed, his strong jaw covered in the stubble that she wanted to run her hands over. She shook her head, trying to clear her fuzzy brain.
“Another round?”
Penny’s head jerked to see the waitress standing next to her.
Jesus! She hadn’t even heard her approach. And there the waitress was, smiling at Ethan, not even attempting to hide her perusal of him. Penny looked over to see Ethan looking at her, and not the waitress. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask for the tab.
“Sure, I’ll have another.” Who said that? It sounded like her voice, but she hadn’t planned on having another drink.
His eyebrow quirked in question, but he said nothing. She shrugged and played with the napkin her empty martini glass had been on, before looking up at him.
“Guess I’m not ready to go after all,” she said with a shrug.
His grin widened. “I’ll take another one, too.” The waitress spun on her heel, leaving them alone again.
“I watched your game last night.”
“Really? What did you think? I played much better than I did before the Christmas break,” he said.
“Do you want to talk about Christmas?” she asked, stupidly needing to be reminded of his baggage. Like that would change how she felt about him and how much she wanted this night to continue.
“It wasn’t as awful as I anticipated. My parents missed me, and my little sister kept me entertained for the night. I didn’t speak to my brother, but it’s probably better that way.”
The frustration was clear in his voice, as was the happiness when he mentioned his parents and sister.
“I’m glad it went well, for the most part. I’m sorry you have to deal with them.”
“It’s fine. It’s not a problem for me anymore.”
God, how she wanted to believe him, but she saw how he’d played the night after they’d run into his ex and his brother. It still affected him, even if he didn’t want to believe it. And it was still there, hanging over whatever was happening between them, but for now, she’d let it go.
“What about you?” he asked.
“Fine. My sister is pregnant, and everyone is happy about it. It was small this year. Just my parents and my sister and brother-in-law.” She left out Michael, having no desire to have that conversation and hating herself for bringing up the sticky subject to begin with. “I’m just glad the holidays are over.”
“Me too. I just wish I was here for New Year’s Eve. You would be required to accompany me on a date.”
She didn’t balk at his quick change of topic since she had no desire to talk about her family either. “Really? Required? New Year’s is only two days from now. A little presumptuous to assume I don’t have plans,” she huffed.
“I just would’ve invited myself along,” he said with complete seriousness, and she couldn’t fight her smile.
“So I take it you have an away game?”
“Yes. It would be our second date, but I have an away game. Leaving early tomorrow and we’re gone for most of the week. Eastern road trip. Three games in five days.”
“That’s a lot.”
“Yes, but we are playing both New York teams and Philly, so it’s not that much travel once we’re out there.”
“This will be the first time you play in your old arena, right?”
“Yeah. It’ll be bittersweet. I called that arena home for over five years.”
“Is it weird to play against your old teammates?”
Breakout (San Francisco Strikers Book 1) Page 12